Isn’t it fun looking around other peoples homes? and I have to say it was a joy to look around and photograph the oh so talented Jonna Saarinen’s. Jonna is a textile designer and her Norwegian background, love of colour and vintage and obsession with the Moomins shines through in her home which you can find in its full glory in this months Mollie Makes. You can find copies here.

So I feel slightly embarrassed I’ve become one of those people who has a blog linked to their website and has updated once since the start of the year!!! ARGHH! Its one of my pet hates! I actually like writing this blog, its as much a visual diary and somewhere I can just speak freely about work, life with no pressure and is kinda therapeutic. It probably should be more work orientated but hey I’m human and not that business savvy plus I can only say having a 14 month old is a full time job as well as trying to run a business and add to that some free me time.

Its the me time I wanted to talk about and the start of my creative journey this year, I made a 5 year wish come true with a neon workshop day course. It was birthday present to myself and I loved every minute of it. If you’ve not heard of neon workshop, its a creative studio and gallery space run by Richard Wheater, an incredibly talented neon artist based in Wakefield. I actually first found the studio during a very drunk Wakefield Art Walk many years ago which ended in Reflex nightclub doing somesort of body popping on the mirrored floor but that night I met and commission my first piece of neon by Julia Bickerstaff. It wasn’t until Christmas that I found out that Kate, my partner in crime had also commissioned a piece for me.

I have to say the workshop was great! A full day of neon magic packed with practical demos and plenty of time to practice the art of bending glass with instructor Ali. We all had a chance to design a piece of neon and watch as Julia made it from our pencil sketches. Its a fascinating medium and the perfect mix of creativity, chemistry and physics. I havent’ as yet fixed my piece to the wall, which was a neon arrow but I’m looking forward to having my own home and finding the right spot. If your eager to find something fun to do and make a piece of neon, there are monthly workshops in Wakefield and mobile workshops in venues around the UK and the world, take a look NEON WORKSHOPS

Whilst in Wakefield we managed to visit the Hepworth Gallery, I had specifically chosen the workshop date as I knew there was a huge Martin Parr exhibition on and I love looking at his late 80’s and early 90’s work. What I hadn’t quite grasped was how bloody incredible with building, location on the river and the scale and variety of Barbara Hepworths work was on show. I hadn’t really looked at her work since art school and immersing myself in it again was a joy. It was a really amazing weekend and thanks go to Keith and Martha for tagging along with me and entertaining themselves.

So I feel slightly embarrassed I’ve become one of those people who has a blog linked to their website and has only updated it once since the start of the year!!! ARGHH! Its one of my pet hates, as actually this blog has become a visual diary and somewhere I can just speak about work, life with no pressure and is in someways is kinda therapeutic. I can only say having a 14 month old is a full time job, as well as working and trying to have some sort of life. And life is what I want to talk about or my creative life.

I’ve been a big fan of Quill London for quite sometime, I love their monogram stationery and classic taste and about 2 years ago I attended their modern calligraphy workshop which I loved. So when I thought about breaking out of my bubble and just doing something for me, I looked at their workshop diary.

I love Esther from Origami Est‘s IG feed and had bought her book when it was released but hadn’t had chance to sit down and focus, so I thought this was the perfect workshop to start my creative journey and it really didn’t disappoint. A fab group of people, Esther was a dream and I was thrilled with my final mobile, even though I left it on the train home when I was trying to juggle a just walking Martha!! Oh well the few hours I did spend doing something just for me really started me thinking about new skills and how quickly time flies when your making.

So the addiction started! And before the end of July I had booked myself into another workshop at Quill and one of my favourite IG feeds, a petal unfolds. Susan was an amazing teacher and her IG feed is soooo beautiful, most importantly I didn’t need to juggle a baby on the train so I actually have my beautiful peony in a vase on the mantlepiece and I’m just a little bit proud of myself. Susan is definitely one to watch, she was chosen to be part of the Etsy/John Lewis roof garden pop up shop and is creating an incredible window display for Quill as part of the LDF which I’ve earmarked as a must see during my trip to London.

Next on my list is watercolours with Emma Block as I’m just a little bit in love with her Etsy shop and did you see her beautiful illustration in last months Mollie Makes? If you’d like to while away a Sunday afternoon at Quill learning something new check the workshops link and dont forget to take your purse as there are some unique stationery supplies to buy, I’ve never left without a little something.

I’ve worked with loads of fab clients this year and thought I’d collate just a few in my Christmas Gift Guide. Thanks to everyone for their continued support and wishing everyone a wonderful festive season.